Optimization of experimental procedures for the assessment of auditory cognition in non human primates
Dissertation
Datum der mündl. Prüfung:2023-02-28
Erschienen:2024-02-23
Betreuer:Prof. Dr. Tobias Moser
Gutachter:Prof. Dr. Julia Fischer
Gutachter:Prof. Dr. Hansjörg Scherberger
Gutachter:Dr. Marcus Jeschke
Dateien
Name:PhD Dissertation JCabrera-Moreno.pdf
Size:10.4Mb
Format:PDF
Zusammenfassung
Englisch
In a loose sense, the exceptional development of technology in the past three decades has allowed researchers to drastically improve the quality and quantity of behavioral data. However, the methodological advances achieved by this new wave of technological influx are still under development thus, limited in application to a few fields. Experimental procedures in auditory cognition for NHPs lag behind the sophisticated methods used for visual cognition. These differences might result from historical preferences to study different models in auditory research (e.g., bats, ferrets, and birds) and the difficulties in reliably training NHPs in auditory tasks, which generally display a bias towards vision. As such, this dissertation intends to fill the gap by contributing to the optimization of experimental procedures for auditory cognition research in NHPs. Focusing in common marmosets and long-tailed macaques. In the following chapters, I describe the development of a novel approach to automatically train and test common marmosets and long-tailed macaques for various aspects of auditory perception using audio-visual tasks directly in their homecages, without the need for social separation, neither water nor food control. Chapter 2 – Describes the development of a novel experimental device named MXBI (marmoset experimental behavioral instrument) together with a series of automated unsupervised protocols that assess the auditory perception skills in socially housed common marmosets. This chapter has been published in Nature communications 13, 1648 (2022). Chapter 3 – Describes a series of experiments that ultimately demonstrate the flexibility of use of the MXBI by automating commonly used psychoacoustic tasks, proving the feasibility of wireless control of cochlear implants, and testing for more complex cognitive mechanisms, such as vocal perception. Chapter 4 – Describes the performance of four long-tailed macaques to a visuo-acoustic discrimination task in a social context. It also describes the performance of a novel animal identification protocol based on computer vision. This chapter has been published in Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 10472242 (2022) Chapter 5 – Summarizes and discusses the findings of previous chapters and provides an outlook for further directions.
Keywords: common marmoset; non-human primates; primate training; primate audition; auditory cognition